Dear IUSD Community,
Today, speaking at a news conference, Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, announced that the state will reassess California’s indoor mask requirements for TK-12 schools in two weeks, on February 28. Citing falling case rates and hospitalizations across California and the nation, Dr. Ghaly said that the state will use the next two weeks to affirm COVID data before making changes. His stated goal is to help ensure the data is moving in a positive direction so that schools can safely remain open for in-person instruction with eased mask requirements.
“Masking requirements were never put in place to be there forever,” he said. “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”
The state will use case rates, test positivity, hospitalizations (including pediatric hospitalizations) and vaccination rates as indicators for safely easing COVID-19 protocols in schools, including indoor mask requirements. In the meantime, current state mandates for universal indoor masking remain in place for students, staff and visitors to school campuses. Masks are not required outdoors.
We will continue to coordinate with the Orange County Health Care Agency and the Orange County Department of Education and we will keep our community informed as we have new information. Please also visit iusd.org/COVID-19 for updates, resources, information and links to expert health agencies.
Click here to read a joint statement issued last week by all Orange County superintendents requesting a timeline for easing school masking requirements and other COVID-19 protocols based on countywide health data. The statement noted that OC superintendents have been working directly with Dr. Chau, who, in his own Feb. 11 letter to the CDPH, proposed using hospitalization rates and ICU capacities as the basis for making mask decisions impacting schools.
As IUSD has done since the onset of COVID-19, we will monitor local health conditions and we will continue to follow state and local health guidelines and adapt as determined by the guidelines. The health and safety of our students, staff and families remains our priority as we focus on providing the highest quality educational experience we can envision for our more than 36,000 students. We thank our community for its partnership, understanding and continued vigilance, all of which have helped to prevent and limit the spread of COVID-19.
Sincerely,
IUSD Communications